Variable right-hand margin-control system

ABSTRACT

A system which accepts an input tape and provides an output copy having a right-hand edge which is controlled by means of a variable control zone. The control zone may be made relatively wide, such that the occurrence of a word space with automatic carrier return in the zone is virtually assured which results in minimum operator intervention but with a resultant ragged righthand edge; or may be made quite narrow if a relatively uniform right-hand edge is desired but with much greater operator intervention since the likelihood of a space occurring within the zone is greatly reduced. The system is operable such that in the event that more than one space occurs in the zone, the space nearest to the right-hand side of the zone which corresponds to the end of the measure is chosen. Reading of words and spaces between words on the input tape always continues until the first space following the word which overruns the measure is read, and the system then drops back, prints to the previous space, and causes a carrier return of the printer if this previous space occurred in the control zone. Upon overrun and dropback, if no space occurred in the control zone, the line is printed out and stopped for a hyphenation decision at this previous space.

States Patent [72] Inventor David W. Terry 3,340,986 9/ 1967 Adams eta1. 197/20 G org t wn, Tex- 3,386,552 6/1968 Lorberetal. 197/20 PP ,9683,439,341 4/1969 Dolby et a1. 197/19 X giled d g" i 3,466,604 9/ 1969Sinnott 197/20 UX atente an. [73] Assignee International BusinessMachines Pnmary Emmm er Emest wnght corpomfion Attorneys-Hamlin and.lancm and John L. Jackson Armonk, N.Y.

ABSTRACT: A system which accepts an input tape and pro- [54] VARIABLERIGHT HAND M ARGINCONTROL vides an output copy having a right-hand edgewhich is con- SYSTEM trolled by means of a variable control zone. Thecontrol zone 4 Claims, snrawing Figs. may be made relatively wide, suchthat the occurrence of a word space with automatic earner return in thezone 18 V11- U-S- tually assured results in minimum operatorintervention 197/84 A, l 99 8 but with a resultant ragged right-handedge; or may be made [51] Int. Cl B41 5/30 quite nan-0w if a relativdyif i ht h d edge is desired Fleld 0f Sal ch 20, b t much greateroperator intervention ince the 84184 A; 199/18 likelihood of a spaceoccurring within the zone is greatly [56] References Cited reduced. Thesystem is operable such that in the event that more than one spaceoccurs in the zone, the space nearest to UNITED STATES PATENTS theright-hand side of the zone which corresponds to the end 2,217,150 10/1940 Ayres 197/20 of the measure is chosen. Reading of words and spaces2,484,649 10/1949 Root 197/ 19 between words on the input tape alwayscontinues until the 2,762,485 9/1956 Bafour et a1. 197184 A X firstspace following the word which overruns the measure is 2,797,787 7/1957Higonnet et a1. 197/19 read, and the system then drops back, prints tothe previous 2,954,860 10/1960 Woodhead 197/19 space, and causes acarrier return of the printer if this previous 2,968,383 1/ 1961l-ligonnett et al. 197/20 space occurred in the control zone. Uponoverrun and drop- 3,063,536 11/1962 Dirks 197/19 back, if no spaceoccurred in the control zone, the line is 3,148,766 9/1964 Higonnet eta1. 199/18 printed out and stopped for a hyphenation decision at this3,272,306 9/ 1966 De Witt et a1.... 197/20 X previous space. 3,3 0 E9323/1967 Debus et al. 199/18 "W COUNTER |2 Hi COUNTER l2 2 21 PRINT OUTFOR HYPHENATION mzmznm 4m 3.631.957

SHEET 1 BF 2 &

COUNTER 2s MEASURE comma 2 MEASURE 5 55- I4 33 To READER & 1 51 DIAL 232 7 l K 26 2s MEASUKRE ZONE & MINUS COMPARE REGISTER ZONE WIDTH ICOUNTER |2 2 2| 2g COUNTER |2 ZI L v PRINT OUT FOR- HYPHENATION FIG. I

INVENTOR.

mwm w. TERRY ATTORNEY.

PATENTED JAN 4 B72 SHEET 2 BF 2 OUTPUT LINE INPUT. LINE RIGHT MARGINZONE WIDTH I N I F l G 2 l F l G 3 W MIEI'NJENIEI INVENTORI.

DAVID w TERRY VARIABLE RIGHT-HAND MARGIN-CONTROlL SYSTEM BACKGROUND OFTHE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates totapecontrolled printing systems in general, and more particularly,relates to a system for controlling the uniformity of the righthand edgeof output copy printed from an input tape under control of the setupentry made by the operator at the beginning of the printing operation.

2. Description of the Prior Art The art of composing is a relatively oldart and in its classic sense, includes the justification of printing,such that the uniformity of both the lefthand edge and righthand edgeare 1 controlled. While in classic composing rigid control of therighthand edge of the output copy is required, there are manyapplications in which a slightly ragged righthand edge is acceptable.There have been many systems designed to print output from an input tapewith a ragged righthand edge such that there is less of a requirementfor operator intervention in the form of hyphenation decisions duringprintout. This is the prime reason for utilizing a system in which theright-hand edge of the output copy is not in exact alignment. However,prior to the present invention, there have been no systems in which theoperator had a choice as to the degree of raggedness permissible on therighthand edge.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,339,470 to O'Brien, et al., provides normaljustification in which the textual content of the input lines isidentical lineforline with the textual content of the output lines. Theonly difference between input and output is that the output line isjustified to the righthand margin and the spaces to fill up to therighthand margin are equally distributed to interword spacing. TheOBrien patent is, of course, a typical justification system.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,386,552 to Lorber, et al., provides a system in which acarrier return will automatically occur at the first space on the farside of a righthand point set into the system by the operator. There isno variable zone in the Lorber system. The Lorber system also provides ahyphenation mode in which the input tape has the words thereonhyphenated by the input operator at every syllable and a carrier returnwill occur on the first hyphen on the right of the righthand line.Additional modes of sentence, paragraph, and character are alsoprovided. As above noted, there is, however, no provision in the Lorbersystem of a variable zone which the operator may vary to control theraggedness of the right-hand edge. The operator can only control theearliest point at which a carrier return can occur.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,340,986 to Adams provides a righthand zone. This zone,however, is not controlled by the machine, but is a visual zone used bythe operator viewer. The viewer runs the input tape past a viewingstation and makes decisions as to what the righthand margin should looklike and marks the tape with a machine readable code to end a line at aselected point which falls between two vertical lines which designatethe zone. This is facilitated by having an input tape, having measuredlengths on it which can be directly correlated to the length of a lineof print on the output copy. There is in the Adams system no provisionfor the automatic setting of the zone by the operator with substantiallyunattended operation of the system during the printout as is provided inthe subject invention. Instead, in the Adams system the operator must gocompletely through the input tape marking the line endings prior tobeginning the printing operation.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,307,!54 to Garth describes a typical hot zone system.Garth provides a zone which determines where the lineending point is tooccur. However, this zone is related to a multiple of the number ofinterword spaces in order to control the ultimate size of theseinterword spaces upon justification of the line and thus, this zonevaries for each line. There is no provision for the operator to controlthe lineending point within a zone that is constant for each line inorder to control the raggedness of the righthand edge.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Briefly, a system is provided which acceptsinput data from a tape and converts the input data to printed output.The degree of evenness of the righthand edge of the printed output iscontrolled by the operator setting a zone during the setup operation.During setup the operator sets both the measure and the zone width.First and second Counters are provided which hold the running count fromthe lefthand margin and the count from the lefthand margin at the timeof the last space, respectively. A subtracthold unit is also utilized tohold an amount equal to the measure minus the zone width which is thelefthand side of the zone.

When a space code is read from the input tape, the contents 5 of thefirst counter are compared against the measure. If the space is to theright of the measure, the contents of the subtracthold unit are comparedwith the contents of the second counter to determine if the previousspace was in the zone. If the previous space is in the zone which is thecase when the contents of the second counter are greater than the countin the subtracthold unit, the previous space is the point of anautomatic carrier return. If less, the word is printed out for ahyphenation decision since the word completely spans the zone. Thus,reading of the input tape always continues until the measure is overrunand the system then drops back to the previous space location whichassures that the space nearest the edge of the measure will, in theevent of multiple spaces in the zone, be the space which ends the line.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a block diagram of thesubject novel system;

FIG. 2 illustrates the operation of the system when a word of the inputline spans the righthand side of the control zone;

FIG. 3 illustrates the operation of the system when two spaces occur inthe zone and a word spans the righthand side of the control zone;

FIG. 4 illustrates the operation of the system when a space is at therighthand side of the control zone;

FIG. 5 illustrates the operation of the system when the zone is chosento be relatively narrow such that no space occurs within the zone.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Refer next to FIG. 1 which showsthe overall system which comprises the subject invention. The system asshown in FIG. 1 is designed to facilitate its utilization in a system inwhich printing of text is to be under control of a previously preparedinput tape. The printing of material may follow the complete reading ofa line from the input tape with justification or other modificationsbeing made to the line prior to the printing. In this case justificationoccurs automatically so long as the justification can be accomplished byappropriate interword spacing and in some cases, interletter spacing.These techniques are, of course, well known. In this type of operation,whenever justification cannot be accomplished through use of the maximumpermissible interword spacing and interletter spacing the last word isprinted out for a hyphenation decision and this decision is then made bythe operator.

In FIG. 1 is shown a count line 1 to which counts from the input tapeare applied. These counts will correspond in the event of proportionalspacing, to the width of the characters read from the tape and spacesread. In the event that proportional spacing is not used, the countswill correspond to the characters read and spaces. These counts areinput into a current units counter 2 which is set to zero at thebeginning of each line by application of a carrier return signal onlines 31 and 30 or by a startup signal when the tape reader is turnedon. The contents of the current units counter 2 are applied along line 4to an AND- gate 5. The other input to the AND- gate 5 is along line 3from a space line. The space line is brought up anytime a space code isread from the input tape. Thus, each time a space code is read, thecontents of counter 2, which are equal to the number of counts from thelefthand margin, are applied along lines 6 and 7 to the AND- gate 9 andcompare unit 8, respectively. The other input to the compare unit 8 isalong line 25 from the measure register 22. The measure register 22holds a number corresponding to the setting selected by the operator atthe beginning of the printing operation. This will correspond to thedesired measure. The operator also sets a zone width dial to control thewidth of the zone. The zone width is stored in register 23.

In compare unit 8 a comparison is made between the contents of thecurrent units counter 2 and the measure set on the measure dial. In theevent that the contents of the current units counter 2 are less than themeasure, which implies that the measure has not been exceeded, line 10is brought up and the contents of counter 2 which are applied along line6 to the AND- gate 9 are gated along line 11 into a counter 12 andstored. This counter 12 thus stores the current contents of counter 2which is the point of the last space. The point of last space is appliedalong line 13 to AND- gate 14 which receives its other input fromcompare unit 8.

Line 15 will be brought up in the event that the contents of counter 2are greater than the measure. This implies that the measure has beenoverrun. In the event that the measure has been overrun, the contents ofcounter 12, which is the last stored current units count, are gatedthrough gate 14 along line 16 into a compare unit 17. The compare unit17 receives its other input along line 20 from a subtracthold unit 21which is loaded initially with a count corresponding to the measureminus the zone width. The measure minus the zone width corresponds tothe lefthand side of the zone. The loading of counter 21 is accomplishedupon a carrier return bringing line 29 up, or upon startup. When line 29is up, the contents of the measure register 22 and zone width register23 are applied along lines 24 and 27, respectively, through AND- gate 26to the subtract and hold unit 21 over line 28. In the event that uponcomparison in compare unit 17, the contents of counter 12, whichcorresponds to the point that the last space occurred, are equal to orgreater than the contents of the subtract and hold unit 21 whichcorresponds to the lefthand side of the zone, a carrier return willoccur at the point of last space. In the event that the contents ofcounter 12 are less than the contents of counter 21, a printout forhyphenation signal is applied to line 19. This will occur since, in thisevent, the last space occurred to the left of the lefthand side of thezone and the last word, therefore, completely spans the zone.

With respect to the automatic cam'er return which occurs when themeasure is exceeded, which is the case when line 15 from compare unit 8is up, it should be noted that the point at which the carrier returnoccurs is at the space immediately preceding the word which overflowedthe measure. Thus, in the event that multiple spaces occur in the zoneeither due to short words, a wide zone, or multiple spaces in tabularmaterial, the space at which the carrier return occurs is the onenearest the end of the measure. This is accomplished by storing thecurrent units count into the point of last space counter 12 each time aspace occurs.

Additionally, a carrier return signal which appears on line 18 is alsoapplied along line 36 to AND- gate 38 to gate the point of carrierreturn along line 37 back to the reader control such that a new linebegin point is identified. The point of carrier return which is gated isalso applied along line 35 which is the other input to AND- gate 38.

Logically, the above can be described as follows:

I. Take no action until the measure is exceeded.

2. Carrier return at the point of last space if the point of last spacefalls within the zone and printout for hyphenation if it does not.

For a more complete understanding of the system of FIG. 1, refer next toFIG. 2 wherein is shown an illustration of an input line and an outputline which would occur through operation of the subject system. In FIG.2 the input line is shown with a space occuring in the zone betweenwords C and D and with word D overflowing the measure. Upon applicationof this input line to the subject system, a carrier return occurs at thespace following word C and word D is then brought around onto thefollowing line.

In FIG. 3 is illustrated the case where multiple spaces occur in thezone. As shown upon output the system does not automatically cause acarrier return following a space after word C, but instead causes acarrier return after word D, which is the space nearest the righthandmargin. Word E in FIG. 3 is then brought around to the following line.This illustrates that in the subject system that the first space is notacted upon. Instead, the space nearest to the righthand side of themeasure is the space which is chosen.

In FIG. 4 is illustrated the case where a relatively long word is inputand the space following the long word is at the overflow point. In thiscase, as illustrated, word C is printed as input.

In FIG. 5 is shown the case where a long word completely spans the zoneand thus, the word must be printed out for hyphenation. Again, asillustrated in FIG. 5, hyphenation may perhaps be rejected.

From a consideration of FIG. 1, it should now be obvious that the systemof FIG. 1 implements the subject novel technique in which a variablewidth zone is set by the operator, the width of which will control theamount of unevenness on the righthand side of the output. If a verytight righthand side is required, the zone will be made relatively smallsuch that the likelihood of spaces occurring in the zone, which wouldcause an automatic carrier return, is lessened. The

trade ofi' here is that more words will be .found to span the zone, andtherefore, a greater number of hyphenation decisions will be made. Atthe other extreme, the zone can be made quite wide such that thelikelihood of a word completely spanning the zone, which wouldnecessitate a hyphenation decision, is almost eliminated. In this case,as above described, the evenness of the righthand margin will be madebetter through use of the subject invention since only the space nearestthe end of the measure will cause a carrier return. However, it shouldbe noted that as the zone width chosen by the operator gets wider, theresults achieved through use of the subject system tend to approachthose achieved in a system in which a carrier return is caused to occurupon the first space to the righthand side of a right margin line.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to several embodiments, it will be understood by those skilledin the art that various changes in fonn and detail may be made withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:

l. A system for controlling the uniformity of the righthand edge ofoutput copy printed from a prepared input tape, by reading words andspaces between words from the input tape until the first space followingthe word which overruns a selected measure is read, dropping back to theprevious space, and causing a carrier return of a printer at saidprevious space if said previous space occurred in a selected controlzone or causing a printout for hyphenation of said printer up to saidprevious space if said previous space occurred before said control zonewas entered, said system comprising:

a measure register for holding an operatorselected measure countdefining said measure;

a zone register for holding an operatorselected zone count defining saidcontrol zone;

counting means for providing a current units count of data codes fromsaid input tape from the left margin of said output copy;

first comparing means connected to said measure register and to saidcounting means for comparing said current units count with said selectedmeasure count upon the reading a space code from said input tape, saidcomparing means having a first output providing a first output signalwhen said current units count exceeds said measure count, said firstoutput signal being generated upon the reading of the first space codefollowing the word which has overrun said measure, said first comparingmeans having a second output providing a second output signal when saidcurrent units count is less than or equal to said measure count, saidsecond output signal being generated upon the reading of each space codefollowing any word which has not overrun said measure;

comparison means connected to said measure register, said zone register,said counting means, and said first and second outputs of said firstcomparing means, said comparison means including a point of last spacestorage means for storing said current units count upon receipt by saidcomparison means of each of said second output signals of said firstcomparing means, said current units count being stored by said storagemeans each time a space code is detected before the current units countexceeds the measure;

said comparison means being operative upon receipt of said first outputsignal of said first comparing means to provide a carrier return signalto said printer at a first output of said comparison means when the lastsaid stored current units count is within said control zone, saidcarrier return signal providing said printer with the current unitscount of the last space occurring in said control zone, and;

said comparison means being operative upon receipt of said first outputsignal of said first comparing means to provide a printout forhyphenation signal to a printer at a second output of said comparisonmeans when the last stored current units count is outside said controlzone, said printout for hyphenation signal providing said printer withthe current units count of the last space occurring in said measure whensaid last space does not occur in said control zone.

2. The system of claim 1 wherein said comparison means furthercomprises:

a first gating means having an input connected to said second output ofsaid first comparing means and an output connected to an input of saidpoint of last-spacestorage means for gating said current units count tosaid storage means upon receipt by said first gating means of each ofsaid second output signal from said first comparing means;

a second comparing means having a first input connected to said point oflast-spacestorage means through a second gating means, said secondgating means gating the contents of said point of lastspacestorage meansto said first input of said second comparing means upon receipt by saidsecond gating means of a first output signal from said first output ofsaid first comparing means, said second gating means becoming operativefor gating the contents of said storage means to said second comparingmeans only after said current units count exceeds said measure;

a subtracthold means having a first input connected to said measureregister, a second input connected to said zone register and an outputproviding a measure minus zone width count, said output of saidsubtracthold means being connected to a second input of said secondcomparing means;

said second comparing means having a first input connected to said firstoutput of said comparison means for providing the carrier return signalto said printer;

said second comparing means having a second output connected to saidsecond output of said comparison means for providing the printout forhyphenation signal to said printer;

said first output of said second comparing means also being connected toa reset input of said current units counting means for setting saidcurrentunitscounting means during each carrier return signal.

3. A system for controlling the uniformity of the righthand edge ofoutput copy printed from a preprepared input tape, by reading words andspaces between words from the input tape until the first space followingthe word which overruns a selected measure is read, dropping back to theprevious space, 75

and

causing a carrier return of a printer at said previous space if saidprevious space occurred in a selected control zone or causing a printoutfor hyphenation of said printer up to said previous space if saidprevious space occurred before said control zone was entered, saidsystem comprising:

a measure register for holding an operatorselected measure countdefining said measure; zone register for holding an operatorselectedcontrol zone count defining said control zone;

a currentunitscounting means for providing a current units count of datacodes read from said input tape, said currentunitscounting means beingconnected to an input of a spacecodegating means, said spacecodegatingmeans having an output connected to a first input of a first comparingmeans for applying said current units count to said first comparingmeans upon the reading of a space code from said input tape;

said measure register having an output connected to another input ofsaid first comparing means;

said first comparing means having a first output providing a firstoutput signal when said current units count exceeds said measure count,said first output signal being generated upon the reading of the firstspace code following the word which has overrun said measure;

said first comparing means having a second output for providing a secondoutput signal each time said current units count is less than or equalto said measure count, said second output signal being generated uponthe reading of each space code following any word which has not overrunsaid measure;

point of lastspacestorage means for receiving said current units countthrough a first gating means, said first gating means being connected tosaid second output of said first comparing means for gating said currentunits count to said storage means upon receipt by said first gatingmeans of said second output signal from said first comparing means, saidcurrent units count being gated to and stored by said storage means eachtime a space code is read following any word which has not overrun saidmeasure;

second gating means connected to an output of said storage means forgating the contents of said storage means to a first input of a secondcomparing means upon receipt by said second gating means of a firstoutput signal from said first output of said first comparing means, saidsecond gating means becoming operative for gating the contents of saidstorage means to said second comparing means only after the first spacecode following the word has overrun said measure has been read, and;

a subtracthold means having an input connected to an output of a thirdgating means, said third gating means having a first input connected tothe output of said measure register, a second input connected to anoutput of said zone register, and a third input connected to astartreset input of said currentunitscounting means, said subtractholdmeans receiving said measure count and said zone width count from saidoutput of said third gating means, said subtracthold means having anoutput for providing a measure minus zone width count to a second inputof said second comparing means, said second comparing means having afirst output for providing a carrier return signal to said printer whenthe laststored contents of said point of lastspacestorage means aregreater than or equal to the measure minus zone width count, saidcarrier return signal providing said printer with the current unitscount of the last space occurring in said control zone;

said second comparing means having a second output for said first outputof said second comparing means also being connected to said startresetinput of said currentunitscounting means for setting said counting meansduring each carrier return signal.

4. A method of controlling the righthand alignment of a print copyprinted by a printer under control of data codes and space codes from aninput tape comprising the steps of:

selecting a line measure count defining a measure;

selecting a zone width count which is less than said measure count;

reading said data codes and said space codes from said input tape;

counting said data codes and said space codes to define a current unitscount;

comparing said current units count to said measure count;

storing said current units count each time one of said space codes isread whenever said current units count is less than or equal to saidmeasure count, said current units count being stored upon the reading ofeach space code following any word which has not overrun said measure;

subtracting said zone width count from said measure count to define ameasure minus zone width;

comparing said measure minus zone width with the last said storedcurrent units count when the first space code which follows the wordwhich-has overrun said measure is read;

causing a carrier return of said printer at said laststored currentunits count if said laststored current units count is greater than orequal to said measure minus zone width, said carrier return occuring atthe current units count of the last space code occurring in said controlzone;

causing a printout for hyphenation at said laststored current unitscount if said laststored current units count is less than said measureminus zone width, said printout for hyphenation ending with the currentunits count of the last space code occurring in said measure when saidlast space code does not occur in said control zone.

* i i i t

1. A system for controlling the uniformity of the right-hand edge ofoutput copy printed from a prepared input tape, by reading words andspaces between words from the input tape until the first space followingthe word which overruns a selected measure is read, dropping back to theprevious space, and causing a carrier return of a printer at saidprevious space if said previous space occurred in a selected controlzone or causing a printout for hyphenation of said printer up to saidprevious space if said previous space occurred before said control zonewas entered, said system comprising: a measure register for holding anoperator-selected measure count defining said measure; a zone registerfor holding an operator-selected zone count defining said control zone;counting means for providing a current units count of data codes fromsaid input tape from the left margin of said output copy; firstcomparing means connected to said measure register and to said countingmeans for comparing said current units count with said selected measurecount upon the reading a space code from said input tape, said comparingmeans having a first output providing a first output signal when saidcurrent units count exceeds said measure count, said first output signalbeing generated upon the reading of the first space code following theword which has overrun said measure, said first comparing means having asecond output providing a second output signal when said current unitscount is less than or equal to said measure count, said second outputsignal being generated upon the reading of each space code following anyword which has not overrun said measure; comparison means connected tosaid measure register, said zone register, said counting means, and saidfirst and second outputs of said first comparing means, said comparisonmeans including a point of last space storage means for storing saidcurrent units count upon receipt by said comparison means of each ofsaid second output signals of said first comparing means, said currentunits count being stored by said storage means each time a space code isdetected before the current units count exceeds the measure; saidcomparison means being operative upon receipt of said first outputsignal of said first comparing means to provide a carrier return signalto said printer at a first output of said comparison means when the lastsaid stored cUrrent units count is within said control zone, saidcarrier return signal providing said printer with the current unitscount of the last space occurring in said control zone, and; saidcomparison means being operative upon receipt of said first outputsignal of said first comparing means to provide a printout forhyphenation signal to a printer at a second output of said comparisonmeans when the last stored current units count is outside said controlzone, said printout for hyphenation signal providing said printer withthe current units count of the last space occurring in said measure whensaid last space does not occur in said control zone.
 2. The system ofclaim 1 wherein said comparison means further comprises: a first gatingmeans having an input connected to said second output of said firstcomparing means and an output connected to an input of said point oflast-space-storage means for gating said current units count to saidstorage means upon receipt by said first gating means of each of saidsecond output signal from said first comparing means; a second comparingmeans having a first input connected to said point of last-space-storagemeans through a second gating means, said second gating means gating thecontents of said point of last-space-storage means to said first inputof said second comparing means upon receipt by said second gating meansof a first output signal from said first output of said first comparingmeans, said second gating means becoming operative for gating thecontents of said storage means to said second comparing means only aftersaid current units count exceeds said measure; a subtract-hold meanshaving a first input connected to said measure register, a second inputconnected to said zone register and an output providing a measure minuszone width count, said output of said subtract-hold means beingconnected to a second input of said second comparing means; said secondcomparing means having a first input connected to said first output ofsaid comparison means for providing the carrier return signal to saidprinter; said second comparing means having a second output connected tosaid second output of said comparison means for providing the printoutfor hyphenation signal to said printer; said first output of said secondcomparing means also being connected to a reset input of said currentunits counting means for setting said current-units-counting meansduring each carrier return signal.
 3. A system for controlling theuniformity of the right-hand edge of output copy printed from apreprepared input tape, by reading words and spaces between words fromthe input tape until the first space following the word which overruns aselected measure is read, dropping back to the previous space, andcausing a carrier return of a printer at said previous space if saidprevious space occurred in a selected control zone or causing a printoutfor hyphenation of said printer up to said previous space if saidprevious space occurred before said control zone was entered, saidsystem comprising: a measure register for holding an operator-selectedmeasure count defining said measure; a zone register for holding anoperator-selected control zone count defining said control zone; acurrent-units-counting means for providing a current units count of datacodes read from said input tape, said current-units-counting means beingconnected to an input of a space-code-gating means, saidspace-code-gating means having an output connected to a first input of afirst comparing means for applying said current units count to saidfirst comparing means upon the reading of a space code from said inputtape; said measure register having an output connected to another inputof said first comparing means; said first comparing means having a firstoutput providing a first output signal when said current units countexceeds said measure count, said first output signal being generatedupon the reading of the first spAce code following the word which hasoverrun said measure; said first comparing means having a second outputfor providing a second output signal each time said current units countis less than or equal to said measure count, said second output signalbeing generated upon the reading of each space code following any wordwhich has not overrun said measure; a point of last-space-storage meansfor receiving said current units count through a first gating means,said first gating means being connected to said second output of saidfirst comparing means for gating said current units count to saidstorage means upon receipt by said first gating means of said secondoutput signal from said first comparing means, said current units countbeing gated to and stored by said storage means each time a space codeis read following any word which has not overrun said measure; a secondgating means connected to an output of said storage means for gating thecontents of said storage means to a first input of a second comparingmeans upon receipt by said second gating means of a first output signalfrom said first output of said first comparing means, said second gatingmeans becoming operative for gating the contents of said storage meansto said second comparing means only after the first space code followingthe word has overrun said measure has been read, and; a subtract-holdmeans having an input connected to an output of a third gating means,said third gating means having a first input connected to the output ofsaid measure register, a second input connected to an output of saidzone register, and a third input connected to a start-reset input ofsaid current-units-counting means, said subtract-hold means receivingsaid measure count and said zone width count from said output of saidthird gating means, said subtract-hold means having an output forproviding a measure minus zone width count to a second input of saidsecond comparing means, said second comparing means having a firstoutput for providing a carrier return signal to said printer when thelast-stored contents of said point of last-space-storage means aregreater than or equal to the measure minus zone width count, saidcarrier return signal providing said printer with the current unitscount of the last space occurring in said control zone; said secondcomparing means having a second output for providing a printout forhyphenation signal to said printer when the last-stored contents of saidpoint of last-space-storage means are less than said measure minus zonewidth count, said printout for hyphenation signal providing said printerwith the current units count of the last space occurring in said measurewhen said last space does not occur in said control zone; said firstoutput of said second comparing means also being connected to saidstart-reset input of said current-units-counting means for setting saidcounting means during each carrier return signal.
 4. A method ofcontrolling the right-hand alignment of a print copy printed by aprinter under control of data codes and space codes from an input tapecomprising the steps of: selecting a line measure count defining ameasure; selecting a zone width count which is less than said measurecount; reading said data codes and said space codes from said inputtape; counting said data codes and said space codes to define a currentunits count; comparing said current units count to said measure count;storing said current units count each time one of said space codes isread whenever said current units count is less than or equal to saidmeasure count, said current units count being stored upon the reading ofeach space code following any word which has not overrun said measure;subtracting said zone width count from said measure count to define ameasure minus zone width; comparing said measure minus zone width withthe last said stored current units count when the first space code whichfollows the word which has oVerrun said measure is read; causing acarrier return of said printer at said last-stored current units countif said last-stored current units count is greater than or equal to saidmeasure minus zone width, said carrier return occurring at the currentunits count of the last space code occurring in said control zone;causing a printout for hyphenation at said last-stored current unitscount if said last-stored current units count is less than said measureminus zone width, said printout for hyphenation ending with the currentunits count of the last space code occurring in said measure when saidlast space code does not occur in said control zone.